This was LEVEL UP 2024

The Gate, both startup help desk for Brainport Eindhoven and the valorization department within TU/e, organizes an annual startup event where tech startups can accelerate, connect with funders and above all become inspired.

On Monday, September 30, the third edition of LEVEL UP took place at the Evoluon in Eindhoven. The organization, consisting of The Gate and partners Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij (BOM) and Braventure, look back on a successful event. The day started with an inspiring message from Prince Constantijn van Oranje and ended with a celebration of the startup ecosystem, especially for award-winner ANTENNEX.

Innovation Origins / Bart Brouwers

LEVEL UP 2024 was bigger than before in every way: more attendees (more than 1,500 tickets sold), more lessons shared and, above all, an engaging program for startups, investors and the startup ecosystem.

Prince Constantijn van Oranje, special envoy to Techleap and key advocate for the Dutch startup ecosystem, used his LEVEL UP session to share insights on failure, scaling and the importance of startup validation.

He opened the day with the message that failure is nothing to fear. But that rather it is a marker of effort and ambition, you must understand the customer’s problem well, be agile when necessary and build with resilience.

"Success comes to those who persevere, adapt and remain open to new opportunities, all while contributing to a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem."

Opportunities and challenges

Scaling a startup into a sustainable, larger enterprise is not easy, especially in the dynamic field of artificial intelligence (AI). At the LEVEL UP event in Eindhoven, a panel discussion brought industry leaders together to talk about this.

The discussion was moderated by Thomas Mensink of Golden Egg Check and featured Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera AI, Hans de Penning, co-founder and CEO of Neople, and Maurice Beckand Verwee, partner at Curiosity VC. Together they shared their insights on scaling AI startups, funding and creating a solid company culture.

Antennex wins LEVEL UP 2024 award

The award for Antennex , a spin-off company from TU Eindhoven, includes a trip to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and then to Silicon Valley. In the final round of pitches, Antennex beat startups Dembrane and Sara Robotics. Notable: all three finalists have female founders. The three finalists were chosen from forty nominees.

Jury chairman Jeroen van Glabbeek: "The product of Antennex is super, the pitch was great and you answered all the difficult questions of the jury sharply." In addition to Jeroen van Glabbeek (CM.com), the jury included Simone Brummelhuis (Borski Fonds) and Kathleen Philips (imec).

Audience Award for Simply

Based on the votes of 1,951 people and presented by last year’s winner Roger Blokland (Relement), the audience award went to Simply, a startup that automates recruitment processes.

Blokland: "To be honest, I know startups would rather work on growth for their business than pitch on this stage, but apart from that it was great to see something different from the usual 50-year-old white males here on the LEVEL UP stage."

Successful event

LEVEL UP lived up to its claim as the premier event for the national and international startup community where founders, investors and people in the ecosystem could meet and support each other. A quick reaction survey at the end of the event showed mostly satisfaction with this edition.

Participants said they learned how to better align their business model with their market, experienced how others put together their team, strengthened their pitch, got answers from fellow startups, and networked with entrepreneurs, accelerators and investors. Some even found a co-founder for their dream company at LEVEL UP.